At this time, a large carriage passed by Zhong Huan. Zhong Huan suddenly saw the tall and thin man in the carriage, and there seemed to be two young women beside him. Zhong Huan quickly lowered his head and pretended to buy groceries.
The carriage stopped next to Lin Jianqing, and Lin Jianqing got on the carriage. The carriage slowly turned around and drove towards the city. Zhong Huan rode on the rented Qingkou donkey and followed the carriage leisurely.
The carriage only walked a few hundred steps before it stopped at the entrance of an alley. A tall and thin man, Lin Jianqing, and two women in red skirts were seen stepping out of the carriage and quickly walked into the alley.
Zhong Huan slowed down and pretended to pass by the entrance of the alley. He only glanced at it, and he knew what was going on in the alley.
There were seven or eight scoundrels standing against the wall in the alley, each with their arms akimbo and arms crossed. The tall, thin man was talking to the gangsters and Lin Jianqing, while two women in red skirts stood behind the tall, thin man.
Zhong Huan didn't know why. He took a circle and came back, only to find that no one was in the alley and the carriage was missing.
When Zhong Huan was confused, he suddenly heard a woman shouting, "Help! Help us!"
The sound came from the vegetable market. There was a big commotion at the vegetable market. People from all directions ran over. Zhong Huan also urged the donkey to run towards the vegetable market. When he approached the vegetable market, he saw a group of vicious scoundrels twisting two young men in red skirts.
The woman walked forward. The two women were extremely frightened and cried like pear blossoms. They kept calling for help. The people became angry and condemned the scoundrels one after another.
Zhong Huan recognized these gangsters and the two women, who were discussing things in the alley just now!
He suddenly realized something, and simply folded his hands in front of his chest and watched the show coldly.
The leader of the gangsters shouted: "It is only natural to pay back debts. If they can't pay back the money, they should be sold to a brothel. I want to save them. Please bring me five hundred dollars!"
Everyone gasped, actually asking for five hundred coins, no one dared to do anything.
Someone next to him sighed: "This gang of scoundrels is known as the Seven Tigers in the South of the City. They bully the market, lend money at usury, force good girls to become prostitutes, and do all kinds of bad things. How can they owe 500 yuan? They must have gotten it out of compound interest. Poor two women!"
Suddenly someone shouted, "Stop!"
The crowd cheered, and finally someone came forward.
Zhong Huan sneered. As he expected, Lin Jianqing came out to save the weak woman.
"Langlang Qiankun, you are robbing civilian girls, do you still have the law in your eyes?"
"Well said!" The people around applauded.
Zhong Huan really can't stand it anymore. If he guessed correctly, this is to increase his virtue. After all, once the story of a hero saving a beauty spreads, Lin Jianqing will have the aura of justice and the courage to stand up. In addition, he is Chen
Qing's brother-in-law, his future is immeasurable.
Zhong Huan felt that he had guessed the truth. The tall and thin man must be Chen Qing's subordinate, and he was ordered to arrange all this.
It's ridiculous. I really thought that Chen Qing was a person who was not interested in personal interests. Unfortunately, he still couldn't avoid the cliché. He shook his head and turned around to leave.
On the other hand, Lin Jianqing is still expanding the halo effect of the hero saving the beauty.
.........
Before dawn, a clerk's loud voice could be heard shouting from the corridor, "Get up! Get up! Scholars participating in the imperial examination, get up quickly, the examination is about to begin!"
The last sentence woke up all the sleeping scholars. Zhong Huan sat up and asked nervously: "What time is it?"
"Don't worry, it's not dawn yet!"
Chao Qing sat by the bed and put on his shoes slowly. Seeing that Su Ce was still sleeping, he picked up his pillow and threw it hard, "Xiao Su, get up quickly, the exam is about to start."
The courtyard and dining hall were crowded with scholars washing up and having breakfast. The inn also called seven oxcarts for the scholars in advance to take them to the examination room, but ignored them when they came back.
The three of them simply packed up, had something to eat and then went out. According to the regulations, they could only bring their exam coupons and nothing else.
“There are exactly three seats here!”
The three of them were lucky enough to squeeze into a bullock cart, which happened to have three seats left. The man waved and shouted, "The third cart is ready to go!"
The carriage of the ox cart swayed and began to walk slowly, heading north of the city unhurriedly.
There were twelve people sitting in a bullock cart, sitting in two rows facing each other. There was only silence for a moment, and everyone began to talk to each other.
Gu Jing
Chao Qing asked with concern: "What's going on with Lao Zhong these two days? Is he feeling a little depressed?"
"It's nothing, I suddenly felt that nothing was interesting and I was confused about the future." Zhong Huan said dullly.
"You must be thinking about your fiancée! Are you afraid that you won't be able to get married if you don't pass the exam?" Su Ce laughed at the side.
"I miss you so much!" Zhong Huan glared at him dissatisfied.
"Did you hear that?"
A scholar said loudly: "One of our scholars bravely fought against rogues and rescued two weak women. The news has spread in the past two days."
"I heard that the scholar seemed to be named Lin Jianqing. He fought seven against one and showed no fear. He was beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. He still refused to give in and saved the reputation of two weak women. What a shame for us scholars.
Long face."
"I've also heard that this matter caused a big fuss. The government issued a wanted order and all the scoundrels ran away. I also heard that eighteen gentry from Jingzhao wrote a joint letter recommending him to the Academic Encourage Office!
"
"What does it mean to recommend to the Academic Advising Office? Can I be admitted without taking an exam?"
"As long as your grades are not too bad, you can be admitted with special exceptions! After all, there is a rule that those with outstanding moral character will be given priority in admission."
Everyone was talking about it, and Zhong Huan had a very contemptuous sneer on his face. He must have spent a lot of money to publicize it everywhere!
The bullock cart stopped in front of the entrance of the examination room, and everyone jumped off the cart one after another. The money for the cart was settled by the inn, so they didn't have to worry about it.
It was not yet completely dark at this time, but many scholars had already arrived and were walking towards the camp.
Chao Qing said in surprise: "Aren't you going to check and frisk me?"
Su Ce shook his head and said with a smile: "I asked you to come with me that day but you refused to come. Now you are talking in such a layman's language. Today's poetry test, what do you think is the point of carrying a note?"
"That's right!"
Chao Qing reacted, then frowned again, "But what if someone takes the exam for you?"
"This is not something you should care about. Let's go!"
The three people quickly entered the camp and walked to their respective sub-examination rooms. Their seats were easy to find, which examination room, which area, and which number. There were lanterns hanging above the door of each sub-examination room, with the words "
Clearly, which exam room it is.
Then there was a tent hung in front of each big tent, with the district written on it. There would be an examiner at the door to check the examination ticket. If it was correct, the scholars would go in and find their seats, but they could not come out again after entering.
Lin Jianqing also arrived at the entrance of the examination room in a carriage. He was very nervous and handed the examination ticket to Li Toutuo with trembling hands. Li Toutuo handed his examination ticket to a man outside the car door who looked somewhat similar to Lin Jianqing.
The man glanced at Lin Jianqing, took the exam ticket and walked directly into the examination room.
"Is it relevant?" Lin Jianqing asked worriedly.
"Are you worried that he won't pass the exam?"
Li Toutuo sneered and said: "He was born with the same Jinshi class. He worked as a bookkeeper in a small county in Sichuan. His family was in debt before he came out to work as a knife catcher. As long as he passes the exam for you, he can earn a hundred taels of silver. Can he not
Do you agree?"
"I'm not worried about whether he can pass the exam. I'm worried about whether he will be caught?"
"Don't worry! The test paper is anonymous, and there are no names on the exam table. The exam coupons are only glanced at when you enter the big tent. As long as the examiner doesn't know you and as long as he doesn't say a word, who will know who he is?"
"What's his name?"
Li Toutuo despised Lin Jianqing for being such an idiot. After explaining so much, he was still asking such stupid questions.
"You don't need to know, knowing will do you no good!"
At this time, several scholars walked past their carriage talking and laughing. Lin Jianqing was so frightened that he quickly lowered the curtain and said: "If you don't want to say anything, just leave quickly! I'm afraid of being seen."
Li Toutuo smiled slightly and shouted to the driver: "Let's go!"
The coachman waved his whip and said, "Drive!" The carriage slowly started and drove towards the city...